Summary:
Maharashtra held the third position with 5.79 lakh tourists and Andhra Pradesh in the fourth position contributing 2.81 lakh outbound visitors to Kerala. This was despite many adverse factors like Nipah virus attack, floods, Sabarimala issue and related hartals, the research wing pointed out.The growth rate of domestic tourist arrival during year 2017 was 11.39 %, and it was around 20% till May 2018. But in June the growth rate showed a sudden dip due to Nipah virus attack, and then from August to November the figures went negative due to floods and post flood situations. Thrissur, in fact was the only district, which registered an overall negative growth in domestic tourism in 2018 (-5.5%) and had around 1.5 lakh fewer domestic tourists compared to 2017.Overall, around 156 lakh tourists visited Kerala during 2018, which was 9.3 lakh more compared with the previous year, helping the sector attain a growth of 6.35%. One of the main reasons is the increased inflow of pilgrim tourists to the Padmanabhaswamy Temple, according to the research wing of the department.However, the growth rate of domestic tourists to Thiruvananthapuram showed a negative trend from September, which continued up to December, and the reason for the slump may be due to the unrest caused by the Sabarimala issue, the research wing said.Besides, a similar trend of negative growth was noticed in Thrissur district, famed for its Guruvayur destination, from August to December..